The Scarlet Pimpernel

1982 142 min ★ 6.7 Romance, TV Movie, Adventure

During the French Revolution, a mysterious English nobleman known only as The Scarlet Pimpernel (a humble wayside flower), snatches French aristos from the jaws of the guillotine, while posing as the foppish Sir Percy Blakeney in society. Percy falls for and marries the beautiful actress Marguerite St. Just, but she is involved with Chauvelin and Robespierre, and Percy's marriage to her may endanger the Pimpernel's plans to save the little Dauphin

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Cast

Anthony Andrews

Sir Percy Blakeney/The Scarlet Pimpernel

Jane Seymour

Marguerite St. Just

Ian McKellen

Chauvelin

James Villiers

Baron de Batz

Eleanor David

Louise

Malcolm Jamieson

Armand St. Just

Denis Lill

Count de Tournay

Ann Firbank

Countess de Tournay

Richard Morant

Robespierre

Julian Fellowes

The Prince Regent

Details

Director

Clive Donner

Status

Released

Original Language

EN

Production

Edgar J. Scherick Associates

Reviews

C

CinemaSerf

April 19, 2026

★ 7/10

This is adapted from two of the Baroness Orczy's books as we head to an 18th century Paris where the terror is in full swing and the newly empowered citizenry are beheading aristocrats left, right and centre. Even Louis XVI and his Queen Marie Antoinette have been spliced. There is one hope for those imprisoned, though, and that comes in the form of an enigmatic rescuer. "The Scarlet Pimpernel" is...